Nine People

The whirring sound of the motorcycle exhausts was very noisy. The tracks left by the motorcycle tires kicked up dust in the air, forcing Grandma Lahei to cover her nose.

Among the six motorcycles, one stopped by the roadside, followed by the other five. Their eyes were all fixed on the longhouse. Lahei watched their every move, suspecting they had ill intentions towards the house's owner.

One of them took a cigarette from its pack and lit it with a lighter. They inhaled the unhealthy smoke from the tobacco wrapped in paper. One of them took a long, satisfying drag from the burning cigarette.

Seeing one of them smoking made Lahei crave a cigarette.

Lahei continued to watch them without moving from her spot. The distance between her and the nine men was approximately 50 meters. However, the men didn't notice Lahei's presence due to the tall grass concealing her.

Seeing one of them smoking, Lahei couldn't resist her own desire to smoke. In the daily life of Dayak women, once they reach the age of 50 or above, they have a unique habit of either chewing betel nut (menginang) or smoking.

The practice of kinang or menginang (chewing betel nut) is not exclusive to Dayak women; it is a cultural heritage of Indonesia. It involves chewing a mixture of betel nut, betel leaf, gambir, tobacco, lime, and clove. This habit dates back over 3000 years, originating in the Neolithic era and continuing to this day.

Historical records from ancient Chinese travelers mention that betel nut and betel leaf have been consumed since the 2nd century BCE. Today, betel chewing is a symbol of the Dayak and Malay communities.

This information comes from the oral traditions of the Malay people, often found in literary works such as "Sirih Pembuka Pintu" (Betel, the Door Opener).

Betel nut chewing materials are commonly used and offered to guests during traditional ceremonies throughout Indonesia, such as weddings, births, funerals, healing rituals, and more. However, in modern times, the influence of cigarettes has spread not only in urban areas but also into the cultural life of the Dayak people. Thus, older people who do not engage in betel chewing often turn to smoking.

Amidst the noisy sounds of nature and forest insects, Lahei took out her sapeq guitar from her lanjung. She sat cross-legged and plucked the first string, creating a high-pitched sound that startled the nine men. They were observing the longhouse, standing alone in the middle of the forest without neighbors.

Hearing the sapeq's sound, the nine men realized someone was watching them. They quickly left the area.

The revving of motorcycle engines echoed, their exhausts producing an unpleasant noise. They all hurried away, unaware of the mystery behind the sapeq's sound.

The starter pedal was pressed, the left clutch was engaged, and the throttle was slowly pulled. The motorcycle engines roared as the clutch was released, the engine's power pulling the wheels rapidly.

"Who was that?" the group leader asked his companion about the person playing the sapeq guitar.

"Damn! That startled me."

"Did anyone see?"

They all shook their heads. The sound was mysterious, yet it shook them deeply.

"Strange, hearing a sapeq in the middle of the forest," the group leader said, speaking louder to be heard over the noisy engines.

"Where are we heading now, Boss?"

"Let's find a coffee shop and plan for tonight. We need to execute the plan for that house."

They continued to accelerate, putting a considerable distance between them and Marna's house. The six motorcycles headed southeast, traveling 15 kilometers away. Eventually, they found a coffee shop on a hill by a dusty laterite road. The shop stood alone without neighbors.

They parked their motorcycles in front of the shop, the noise waking up the woman who almost fell asleep inside.

This shop was located by the trans-logging road. During the dry season, this road was often busy with huge 12-wheeled trucks. The tires were as tall as a grown man. When these trucks passed by, the ground seemed to shake due to the enormous weight of the timber they carried. The logs were often tens of meters long with diameters up to 50 cm.

The roadside shop often served as a rest stop for logging truck drivers. However, during the rainy season, logging activity decreased by about 50% due to the slippery roads, making the trans-logging road less busy than usual.

A young woman with two children stepped out of her shop. She noticed nine men arriving and stopping at her place. At that moment, she was breastfeeding her 1.5-year-old child.

"Customers!" she called out, knocking on the wooden wall to create a sharp sound.

"Yes!" The breastfeeding woman came out of the room.

The nine men were already seated at their respective tables.

"Do you have iced tea?" one of them asked.

"No, we don't," the shop owner replied in a Banjar dialect.

"What do you have?"

"We only have regular tea."

"Okay, just tea," they requested.

"I'll have a cup of coffee," another one of them asked.

One of them also requested coffee with milk. In total, four asked for tea, three for coffee with milk, and two for black coffee.

"We only have enough coffee for three cups," the woman said.

"Why?"

"We're out of coffee grounds." The woman, recognizing their accents, realized they were not locals but outsiders.

"Why don't you sell iced tea?" another one asked.

"Well, we don't have electricity here. To buy ice, we have to go quite far to the sub-district and bring a box. If my husband were here, he would usually buy ice."

"How do you buy it?"

"We usually buy it using a foam box with salt, so the ice doesn't melt by the time we get back."

"Oh, I see."

"Where is your husband, Sis?" one of them asked.

"He's working at the mine, Sir."

"Gold mine?"

"Yes, at the gold mine."

"When does he usually come home?"

"It's not certain, Sir. It's been almost a month since he last came home."

"Usually?"

"Usually, every three months."

Hearing "three months," some of them exchanged glances. It seemed like a signal for an easy target. After all, she was alone, still relatively young, around 26 or 27 years old, and only accompanied by a toddler and a 10-year-old boy.